Recently, I have been in search for a speaker set. I was trying to look for the best overall speaker for both music listening and home theater and at the best possible value. I have read many reviews about many different speakers here in audioreview.com. And now that I have finally purchased a new set of speakers, I feel that I must contribute something to audioreview.com. Please keep in mind that these are strictly my opinion. Please trust your ear (and watch your pocket) before you buy.
There are many speakers (perhaps too many speakers) out there and all of them seem to claim that theirs are the best. My old pair of speakers are American made (Infinity). So this time, I want something different. This time, I looked at European speakers, primarily British made. This is not to say that the American made is not good. But for the same given set of speakers, I can get better value for British speakers, at least in the country where I live.

In the last four or five months that I have been in search of a speaker set, I have auditioned different speakers at different price levels. This includes B&W CDM 7SE, Mission 753F, KEF Reference Model 2, NHT 2.5I, Boston Acoustics VR760, Dynaudio Audience 80, Dynaudio Contour 1.8MkII, Vienna Acoustics Mozart, Vienna Acoustics Haydn

Perhaps, many people are not familiar with the name Vienna Acoustics. I am one of them. But the funny thing is I ended up buying Vienna Acoustics Mozart.

I was told by the dealer who sold Vienna Acoustics that these speakers are hi-end speakers. Whether hi-end or not, I must say the Mozart is a truly outstanding speaker. For the price I paid and the way the speakers perform, it is the best overall among the many fine speakers I've been auditioned. The narrow cabinet design is really attractive. The width is only about 18 cm. My rosewood finish is just wonderful and I think it is the most beautiful speakers among the list of speakers I have. The smooth, quality finish and outstanding build will probably will last a lifetime. The speakers really blend harmonically with my other furniture. I don't have a dedicated listening room.

The Mozart really amazed me on how well it can perform. The soundstage is wide and deep with excellent image. The bass is deepest among all speakers on the list, yet very pleasant to listen to. The midrange and treble are among the very best. The music simply flowed smoothly and coherently from the speakers. Close your eyes and you will not notice the presence of the speakers in front of you. This speaker is on par with the Dynaudio Contour in many areas. The dynamic range of the Mozart is only marginally inferior to the Contour. But the Mozart has better bass.

Unlike many other audiophile speakers, the Mozart also performs exceptionally well in H/T setup. Accompanied with Haydn, and Maestro Center, this home theatre setup is worth considering. And this is where I decided to go for Vienna Acoustics rather than the Contour Series.

The Mozart also features a hidden chamber in the bottom of the cabinet which can be filled with sand for sonic adjustment. My Mozart is also capable of bi-wirable. There is a version which only offer single wire.

Given its outstanding built, magnificent sound, and excellent value, I think the Mozart worth every penny you spent. And this is a kind of speakers you'll enjoy listening to for many years. This speakers also have received Stereophile Recommended Components of the Year. No doubt, a full 5 stars.

First a little background about myself. I am mainly a classical music listener but also listen to Rock and Jazz. My goal in a speaker is to get the most live-like performance. I am also a wind musician for many years. I am into audio gear but have used the same setup for 15 years (DCM time window 1A speakers and Hafler amp) and finally decided I deserve an upgrade. I haven't looked into the audio scene in 15 years (and probably won't for another 15).
Before getting into the review I should say the #1 thing that bothered me in the speakers I tried was harshness, or over-crisp in the highs. First I am going to describe other speakers I listened to and then the Mozart's. All the models here are floorstanding.

Martin Logan SL3 ($3200): These speakers are now my "reference standard" for mids, highs, and soundstaging. Electrostat is truly amazing in these categories, and blows away everything I heard in these respects, whatever the price multiple. Plus there is no annoying harshness or over-crisp sound. Some people may not like how open they sound, but I liked this. The problem is the bass is a serious shortcoming. Its tight etc, just anemic. With about triple the bass volume the speaker would truly rock. The other problem is placement is so critical. The good stuff is so good here I could even tolerate the weak bass if it just didn't have the problem with placement. So, I didn't get these. But, even if you can't put up with these limits, you should give the speakers a listen just to make clear in your mind how good mids, highs, and imaging can be. Truly amazing.

Magnepan 1.6 ($1600?) These are mid-size ones in their line. The imaging here is outstanding (a bit better than the Mozart's but not up to the Martin Logan's). But, the highs weren't super great for me, a slight bit too shrill. I probably would have listened to these more seriously since they do have a lot of good points, but their size is a problem for my listening room and I only wanted them if they blew me away. Mangepans put out real bass in contrast to electrostats. Probably good for everyone but bass-heads. At the price, they have to be the best deal if you have room for them.

Hales Revelation 3 ($2200?) These speakers seemed like a good deal, solid on all fronts and not too expensive. But the highs I found a bit harsh. So I didn't listen too much to them and didn't test their bass at all really.

Thiel 2.3's ($3500?): There was some tinniness way up high which I found annoying. So I didn't listen to these in super detail either. However like the Hales they also seemed very good in other respects.

B&W Nautilas 804's ($3500?)
In exactness and balance, these speakers were outstanding. The only problem I could detect in the one hour I had to listen to them was a little too much harshness. It wasn't just in the way-high area, it was mid-high on up. It was not irritating to the point I was overly annoyed by it, just a subtle harshness. The bass was not very good at the start of my listen (boomy), but we moved the speakers further from the wall and it got good. Exactness was particularly good, and nothing broke up at higher volumes. It seemed like the non-box shape of the cabinets may have helped to give excellent high-volume playing. The Mozarts are not as good at very loud volumes. On the other hand, at lower volumes the Mozarts imaged better. So, the only significant problem in the 804's was a bit of harshness; but, as I mentioned, I hate harshness in speakers. One other thing you may or may not like is the highs really "pop out" due to the mounting of the tweeters on top. The highs image amazingly well because of that. But it almost seemed too good, and it gave something a bit odd to the sound since the midrange was not imaging anything like the highs.

One other thing I didn't like about this line is the price seems out of whack. It seems like the people at B&W got bigheaded, pricing these at around double the prices of the Matrix line it replaced. Its really too bad. I suspect some of the negative comments they get has to do with what people expect at this price. I would say the speaker is quite a bit above the level of the average review on audioreview and highly recommend giving it a listen.

Vandersteen 3A ($2500-3500?)
These speakers sounded quite bad (they were A/B'd with the B&W's). I was surprised given the positive reviews they have gotten. They didn't image well, were not very accurate, and were too heavy in midrange. But I should say they were very smooth up top. The only speakers I found smooth up top were these, the Martin-Logans, and the Mozarts. Given the serious problems with them I have to wonder if they were not set up right.

Vienna Acoustics Mozart ($2500) These are 2-way speakers with two mid-bass units. I bought these guys. Why? The highs are right-on, no harshness, no tinniness, no over-bright. Just sweet, beautiful music. Voices are exceptionally good. I am feeling that metal or plastic tweeter vibrations can't be completely satisfactory for the human voice (the Mozart tweeters are silk). Their imaging was below the Logans and just below the Magnepans, on par with the B&W 804's, and definately better than all the others I tried. The cabinets are narrower when viewed from the front to supposedly help imaging, and I could believe this works. Their precision was also surprisingly good, a notch below the 804's but as good or better than the rest. The bass of the two mid-bass drivers is surprisingly good, but not quite as low or thwacking like real woofers. The Vienna Acoustics Beethoven speakers are very similar but do have it all in the bass department with true dual woofers, but at $3990 I couldn't justify it (also I have heard too many reports of faulty woofers, and the placement is tricky--placement problems arose when I was listening). At really loud volumes the Mozart's didn't seem to be quite as accurate as they could be. But, they are exceptionally good at lower volumes. This brand of speakers may be hard to find a dealer for since they are relatively new in the US. One other factor for me in favor of the Mozarts is they are not very tall and are quite narrow, so will not stick out too much in our living room (which is already too full of stuff).

My #2 choice was the B&W N804's, and I really would have liked to A/B the two but they were at different dealers. If they were the same price as the Mozart's I would have had to listen more rounds to decide. The others were not serious contenders but I would have been relatively happy with most of them.

Addendum: The above was written when I was looking for speakers, and now I have the Mozart's at home. They are doing very well. I can hear the room acoustics on my CD's (the halls in which they were recorded) in a way I couldn't before--very accurate speakers. My dog was barking at sounds on CD's since they sounded real to her. I had to place them quite a ways from the back wall (3ft) to keep the bass from being boomy. The bass is really impressing me. So far the best sound is with the speakers angled in to almost face the listener. The only other speakers I have at home to compare to is some B&W CDM 1SE's (bookshelf; Stereophile class B, just like the Mozart's). The Mozarts are more laid-back and natural sounding. The B&W's on the other hand seem to be striving for more, but getting less in the end.

This speakers are simply the best I've ever heard. (I must admit I've never audiotioned the most expensive hi-end gear, but I have heard comparably prized models from ProAc, Sonus Faber, DynAudio, ect.). The sound from the Mozarts are so sweet, warm, lyrical yet tight and controlled at the same time. The voice-reproduction from these pretty, slime cabinets are the really strengths of this speaker-design. I did an A/B test with the Vienna's side by to the Sonus Grand Piano, and after only half an hour, I realized that the Italian speakers has lost in nearly every aspects... The rest of my sytem consist now of a TACT Millennium all-digital amp and Meridian 508.24 CD-player. All wired up with Nordost Blue Heaven cables. I am a very happy man....

I am still running this in, Initially as with all new speakers, everything was quite shut in a wispy sounding. Now
after three weeks, a sense of ease and airiness in the mid to treble and deep tight bass. The silkdome of the scan speak in really exceptional. IMO, it is better than the Audio Physic Tempo but in terms of bass output, the Virgo beats it.

The rest of my system is a Sony XA7ES and a Krell KAV 300i, Conrad Johnson Premier 11a with a home made preamp.

A 4.5 stars rating.

Similar Products Used:

Audio physic Tempo II
Audio Physic Virgo (auditioned)

Smooth and Open.

No bass below 40 Hz.

Dear

Reader


My current Vienna Bach set-up offers a great value at $1,500 per pair, but my listening taste caters to large scale works by Beethoven and Mozart. Hence, my purchase of the Mozart's.

I have listened to the Vienna Beethoven and Mozart line of products at length. In a nutshell, the Beethoven is a better speaker, but it is well out of my price range. The Mozart's are far from perfect, but they enable me to enjoy music predicated on my listening needs. Below is a snapshot of my findings.

Top. Very open and smooth. The D29 offers very stable output, and a great deal of air. Rating A-

Mid. Natural. Better than any speaker in the Sub $3,000 price range. Weight and clarity. In my opinion they are as good as the Beethoven's in this area, which is quite outstanding. Rating B+

Low. Good, but not great. No bass below 40 Hz. The Beethoven is the clear leader in this area, which is no surprise given it's two 7" Woofers and greater volume. Rating B

Sound Stage. Wide and high, but not very deep. The "Window" is on par with the B&W 805's, but not up to the Beethoven's. Rating B+


All in all the Mozart's are a fine sounding product in this price range. Need more bass from the Mozart's? Below are some tip's on getting the most out this product.

Cables. Monster Cable M1000i/M2.2s offer great bass control, and work very well with the this speaker.

Power. These speakers need at least 100wpc from a clean source. Classe, Krell, Pass Labs, and Mark Levinson amp's work very well with the Mozart's. My CJ gear did not supply the control needed in the bass region.

Sand. I find 30 to 35 pounds of shot to work better than sand. Sure sand helps, but shot may be a better alternative.

Below is a list of my current gear.

Denon DVD 3300
Monster Cable M1000i
Classe CAP 151
Mosnter Cable M2.2s
Vienna Mozart


Eline Kleine Nachtmusik DG 429 805-2 sounds great, and Symphonie No. 9 DG 445 503-2 is produced with vigor.

The Mozart's are far from perfect, but they are the best pair of speakers I have ever owned. My review is based on speakers in the Sub $3,000 price range.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 805 and Sonus Faber Concerto.

Midrange reproduction, details, large warm sounding, not very picky about equipment or room. High build quality

Small elements means limited bass below 40 hz, can't play loud, and may sound a bit bright (when playing a bit loud). Be careful with anplifiers which sounds too bright, or you may get too much treble with female voices.

I know people who think Mozart is better (except deep bass < 40 hz) than Proac 2.5, but after all Proac 2.5 is VERY picky about electronics, so that's may be the reason.

The Mozarts sounds like small high quality boxspeakers with much larger sound and goes much deeper (35 hz -3db).

The review submitted by: B H, Audiophile from Australia is not true. He wrote "I tried some 30 to 50 amps with these speakers". Now, if someone really has tested that many amp's then I suggest he hate all electronics whatever sound they have. After all - do you actually belive he's been testing that mange amps at this loudspeaker if he think it sound this bad? Now, let's look at what he write: "I can only suggest than anyone considering puchasing these speaker should see the full review in stereophile, I thought this review was quite accurate and did give mention to the bass being problematic."

Yes, I think you should read the review everybody. They are ranged Mozart as one of the best loudspeakers in the world (see http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~axiom13/reccom99.htm#11).

Then he writes:
"However I am going to be even further critcal of them and say I also found them dark sounding, and coloured/monotone."

Dark sounding? Ridicilous. The problem is the opposite - they may sound too bright if playing loud because of the small elements. What does this guy like? Only bass and a lot treble from hard metal domes? Coloured? Oh, I guess he means they sound "warm" and not clinical and cold. i.e. they sound musical.

Incredible sounding speakers, see review below

Really low base reproduction on the weak side

When I first heard these speakers I fell imediately in love with them. After owning them for a while now I continue to be amazed at what they can do.

For this particular price point I don't think any speakers comes close to even matching the sounds that the Mozarts can produce (This is purely a judgement call based on my preferences for music and movies). Auditioned a whole bunch of speakers from Boston Acoustics, Sonus Fabers, Mirage,Infinity, JBL's, B&W's and Kef all between $2000 - $4000 but I tried to stay in the $2000 - $3000 range (in case you were wondering yes the audio stores do hate me for trying out all these speakers).

I use them as a part of a home theatre system and as well as musical speakers. These speakers are perform beautifully as both.

The Pros.
The highs are bright, clean, crisp, and clear (sounds like a vegetable ad). The midrange is incredibly clean and accurate. The ability of the Mozarts to accurately reproduce vocals is almost erie. Ella Fitzgerald sounds like she's singing in my living room (the flip side is if you have a bad recording that will also become painfully obvious). The speaker are excellent at reproducing a full range of music be it Mozart, Led Zepplin, Frank Sinatra, Yo Yo Ma, or B.B King (I'm not sure about rap I haven't heard rap on the speakers yet). As movie speakers they are also quite amazing. If you close your eyes it doen't take much to imagine that you in the room with a orchestra or band playing in front of you and not speakers. The speakers are also incredibly comfortable to listen to. I'm not sure what it is but these speakers do not tire me out like other speakers even after listening to them for a long period of time.

The Cons:
The Bass on these speakers are the only slight short coming for the Mozarts. They are not as good as the highs and the mids produced by the speaker. Don't get me wrong they are still quite good but after being amazed by the highs and mids on these speakers I also wanted to be amazed about the bass. Out of the box the bass was a bit lacking but the speakers comes with a plug at the bottom of them so you can fill it with play sand or shot. After filling the bottom of the speakers up with sand the impovement in bass response was immediate. The only problem is it added about 15 lbs to each speaker. With a bit of teaking (ie correct positioning, different sand levels, and different tilts) the bass has become quite good but not wow like the highs and mids. I have supplemented the bottom end with a powered sub woofer and now the sound is complete.

Summary
These speakers are excellent right out of the box. But if you are slightly anal like myself you can endlessly tweak them in search of audio nirvana. I would highly recommend these speakers to anyone. They have been a great joy for me since I have bought them. Run them from a good amp or receiver and you should be very happy.

I've recently purchased a pair of Vienna Acoustics Mozart Signature, and am allready addicted to their sound. The Signature-model has a Scan Speak tweeter, instead of the Seas tweeter wchich is used in the standard version. This makes a great difference, and the Mozart Signature is now, dare I say, a speaker without weaknesses. Other speakers I've had are the Monitor Audio Studio 20 SE, ProAc Response 2.5, and I have to say that none of them had the same overall qualities as the Mozarts. The Studio 20's had an incredibly clear sound and great bass-eaxtension, but a slightly agressive top, and also lack warmth in the mid. The Respose 2.5's need carefully system-matching, and didn't work with my transistor-amp at all. The bass was overblown, and the mid was rather flat-sounding. But I have heard the 2.5's at my dealer, driven by some expensive valve-gear, and that sounded quite good indeed. For me, the Mozart became the solution. My search for speakers has now come to an end. And, dear people at Stereophlie, you should test the Mozart Signature. They're a touch sharper than the standard version, and definetely belongs in Class A. Actually, the Mozart Signature is even better than the A-rated Audiophysics Virgo II.

I have just bought a pair of Vienna Acoustics Mozart in Singapore after auditioning Sonus Faber Grand Piano, Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MkII(excellent overall though a touch too bright for my liking), Castle Inversion 50, Triangle Zephyre II(good value for money), Monitor Audio Studio 10 and PMC 703 (very bright and forward sounding - not my cup of tea)and Jamo Concert 8. Though, the Sonus Faber Grand Piano is another very good speaker (however a bit hard to drive for a 60 Watt Integrated amplifier), I found the Mozart to be more sweet sounding, warm and having a very controlled and tight bass. Rebecca Pidgeon and Sara K sounded divine, Jazz and rock reproduction, too, were top notch (listen to the Hotel California number from the Hell Freezes over album and you'll be spellbound). The sound is very sophisticated which one can live with for a long time to come. And I happened to audition it by sheer chance with no serious intention to buy, initially (probably because What Hi Fi and the other British Mags haven't reviewed it - though Stereophile rates it as a Class B Recommended Component). Definitely deserves to be on your shortlist for auditioning.

First I must mention that the price posted above is incorrect ... the Mozarts list for $2500/pr. That said, the Mozarts are one of the finest speakers I have heard in their price range. The have a very smooth, detailed sound with a perfect (in my smallish room) bass balance. They are one of the most seamless multi-driver speakers I have heard. The Mozarts do not seem to prefer one type of music over another. Their name would imply that they are designed for the classical music lover and they would suit that person just fine, but lovers of jazz, acoustic rock, celtic music, etc would also be more than pleased. What ever you throw at them they play and play well. I auditioned them against the Sonus Faber Grand Piano, Dynaudio Contour 1.8mk II, and the Magnepan 1.6QR. The Mozart, to my ears, was the best balanced of the group and was not the most expensive ... a bonus!!